He's nobody!
by Venka le fay
Summary: Alternate retelling of the events at the end of "Mutagen Man Unleashed."


Don't own Ninja Turtles. If I did I'd be putting Donnie through therapy.

* * *

She could hear the commotion and knew they had to be them. Perhaps Donnie even sent that slimy creature or whatever it was after her in the hopes that she will listen to his lies about trying to get cure her father. Or maybe they all decided to unleash this that thing just to annoy her. Fortunately for April…the boy she was tutoring must be a deaf as he is dense, because he didn't even not hear all the noise the Turtles were making in the ally (which was enough to wake the dead).

"So another study session tomorrow?" April asked just as Donnie's pet monster came out from the alley before Mikey and Raph forced him back in.

"Possibility." Casey Jones was just turning towards the direction of the alley…April couldn't let him see the Turtles. She may not have wanted to see the Turtles again, but that didn't mean she didn't hold to her promises about keeping their identities secret.

"Wait! Hold on." April said trying to stop him. If Jones saw the Turtles, then She'd never be rid of them.

"I knew it." The dark haired boy chuckled with a self-important smile on his face. "Something you want to say to me 'Red'?"

"Um…you don't want to go down this way, because of…" The red haired girl stammered trying to come up with a good reason to keep Jones from encountering her ex-mutant friends. "Toxic fumes." Casey looked at her dubiously, causing April to mentally kick herself, she was a bad liar but anything to keep him from noticing the fight that was going on in the alley beside the house. "Why don't you take the side street over here, it'll help you get home faster."

"Whatever you say, O'Neil." Casey Jones answered as he mounted his bike and took off down the street. "Later." With the boy gone April went to the alley and saw the Turtles fighting the revolting mutant jello mold that had attacked her that afternoon. Leo, Raph, and Mikey were attacking the jarred blob with killing intent. Donnie's attacks being more restrained as he intended to subdue and incapacitate not kill.

"I knew they had something to do with this." April muttered bitterly to herself. "Just keep walking April, it's not your problem." She ducked just in time to avoid a garage can that had been thrown in her direction. Her instincts told her she just return to her brownstone apartment, and leave the mutants to their dispute. But something in her heart told her to say.

~_Alright._~ The human girl mentally said to herself _~I'll only watch to the end of the fight. Then I'll go home and forget I ever saw them.~ _

_"_Try not to hurt him!" Donnie yelled to his brothers. "Lead him away from the street."

"A little tough when he's swinging acid hands at me!" Raph angrily retorted trying avoid any on coming blows the bottled mutant was throwing at him. The blob mutant picked up a car and threw it to the other side of the street causing it to explode.

April vaguely heard herself gasp horror as Mutagen Man grabbed Raph in one hand, Mikey in the other. Leo rushed at the creature to protect and defend his brothers. Unfortunately for him the Creatures tube like mouth exited from the bottom of the Creatures container and wrapped around him retraining him. April could feel her hand instinctively reached for her tessen.

"APRIL IS MINE!" The garbled guttural voice of the blob roared angrily as he painfully slammed Raph and Mikey's shells together like one would a pair of stones and beginning to burn them with the acid spewing from his fingers.

"Not if I can help it!" Donnie yelled as he jumped from where he was perched on a fire escape. Bring his bo staff down on the hose like appendage that bound his eldest brother in place. The shock and pain causing the larger mutant to drop the two mutants turtles in his grasp. Viciously he rounded on Donnie, a clear look of betrayal in his eyes as he glared at the purple masked turtle. The turtle who had been his only friend, the person who caring for and looking after him, the only one who had been trying to find a way to return him back to a human being; was now the focus of his hatred.

"DESTROY YOU!" Mutagen man roared as he slammed his fist into Donnie with the nearly the force of a wrecking ball. Sending the brainy ninja flying backwards until he painfully hit the wall of the building behind him before dropping to the ground. Leo fell back to defend the taller boy as he recovered himself.

"Donnie, we have no choice." Leo stated sympathetically to his younger brother. "Whatever the Pulverizer…Timothy was, he's gone now." Donnie looked hopeless to where Mutagen Man was fighting Raph and Mikey who were quickly beginning to tire from the battle. Deep down, Donatello knew his brother spoke the truth. The innocent human boy who they had all thought of as a pest because he had wanted to be a hero without the work and training that goes into it. That boy was gone, but yet the Pulverizer still had a chance to be a hero like he had always wanted. He could be the key to restoring the innocent people who had been victims of the Mutagen.

"But if we destroy him…" Donnie answered "I might never find the retromutagen. What about April's Dad?!"

"What about April?" Raph answered back.

From her vantage point April's eyes widened as she turned away from the fight, bringing her hands to her mouth in surprise. Donnie actually was trying to find a way to restore her father. While he hadn't succeeded in creating a cure yet, from the sound of things he was on the right track to finding a way to restore her father's humanity. And he was doing this, even after she had told him that she never wanted to see him or his brothers again. Hopeful tears began to fill her eyes as a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. And even as she thought about it, she realized that if a cure was indeed to be found. Donnie would be the only person she knew who was capable of finding it.

However she quickly banished this, there was no guarantee this 'retromutagen' as he called it would permanently restore her father. It could restore him partially but still leave him physically deformed. And what about his mind, what if he was restored physically but still kept the feral mind. There were still too many "what ifs" to hope just yet.

Glancing back she heard Donnie mention something about distracting the creature before leaving the monster by itself. Mutagen Man glanced around as though expecting an attack to come which it did as Leo, Raph, and Mikey all struck at the bottled blob before ducking again into the shadows. To attack again.

Donnie returned to the fight protectively cradling a canister in his arms. April at first didn't believe what Donnie was doing as he held the canister over his head. He was actually going to give that thing mutagen? But then she noted the strange whitish color of the mutagen and realized he had done something to it. Something his brothers hadn't noticed yet, as they watched in shocked silence about what Donatello was doing from where they were perched on a fire escape. The creature lunged at him trying to take the container from him. But he evaded the look on his face clearly stating he didn't want to give Mutagen Man the ooze.

"Timothy," The Purple masked Turtle said, a placating tone in his voice. "It doesn't have to come to this. Please just return with us to the lair."

"NO! MUTAGEN MAN DESTROY TURTLES! " The blob roared as he lunged once again for the container Donnie was holding. "APRIL MINE!" Once again Donnie evaded the lunge.

"Donnie!" Leo called his brothers named worriedly. He knew Donnie was playing a dangerous game, but he wanted to have faith his brother knew what he was doing.

"You once told me that you wanted to be a hero, right?" Donnie said. "You still can. I'm trying to develop a cure that can restore all the innocent who have been affected by the ooze, but I need your help to do it. And your efforts could save numerous lives...you'd be a Hero…just like you always wanted."

"I CRUSH YOU!" Mutagen Man gave a garbled guttural roar through the voice box as he smacked Donnie aside as though swatting a mosquito. Donnie was slammed hard into the wall of a building before falling onto the inclined lid of a dumpster and rolling to the ground like rag doll.

April bit her tongue to keep from crying his name out in horror. The last thing she wanted was for the Turtles or worse yet that thing to realize she had been watching.

The mutagen Donnie had been holding had broken open and spilled all over the ground. Eagerly the creature lapped up the ooze like a hungry animal. Donatello blearily watched as if knowing there was no victory in this.

The Monster gave a triumphant grin after he had devoured his prize, but the elation was short lived as as a confused look crossed over his organs.

"Donnie, what's wrong?" The creature asked as though afraid as the goo that made up it's being became frozen solid.

"I'm…sorry." Donnie said in a soft whisper as he lost consciousness.

For time it was a silent as the grave, no one dared breath. April stepped further away from the alley, her entire body seemed to drain of all senses. She didn't move to far from the alley though.

"How's Donnie?" She heard Raph say hesitantly.

"He'll be okay." Leo said with a relieved sigh. "At worst he'll possibly get a mild concussion."

April sighed to herself in relief as she returned home. While she wasn't ready to forgive them or accept them back into her life because of what happened to their father. She couldn't bear it if the final memories she had of any of them were telling them she never wanted to see them again.

Quietly she made her way into her apartment; perhaps she should get some studying done so she can get her mind off the Turtles. Setting down her book bag she grabbed an apple and was going to get back to her trig homework when her phone rang.

"Hello." She answered as she picked up the phone.

"April, do you have the news on?" She heard Irma's say at the other end of the line.

"No, why?" April asked.

"There was a monster attack in the city." Irma answered. "I don't know why but the…the…whatever it was had a picture of you and some boy dressed up in some weird turtle costume."

"What?!" April asked. Grabbing the TV remote and turning to Channel 6 news.

"I don't know how to describe it. It was like something out of a horror movie." A witness said. "All organs and goo, and I don't even want to know what else."

"This photo of a young girl and what appears to be a boy dressed up as a Turtle was found at the scene." The reported said as the photo of Donnie pushing April on the park swings appeared on screen. "Who these people are and what connection they have to the monster is not yet known. For Channel six news this is…."

April paused as she rewound the video to the photo of Donnie and herself. Her mind going blank with a myriad of emotion: anger, sadness, mortification, and even a little bit of happiness. Anger that as much as she wanted to separate herself from the Turtles things were still tying her back to them. Mortification because no doubt everyone at school possibly even Casey Jones was going to be bombarding her with questions as to what connection she had to that blob monster. And even more questions about who the boy in the photo was. Sadness because she never really realized how much she missed the happy times she had once shared with the Turtle. And happiness because of those pleasant times she had once spent with the Turtles.

The photo itself had been of one of the times the Turtles had taken her up to the surface when they had gone out on patrol. Even though she had moved into the lair as a means of protection, there had been times when the Turtles had brought her up to the surface with them. She appreciated it when they did this because even though she was going to be confined to the lair as a means of keeping her from the Shredder and the Kraang, they didn't want her to feel like she was a prisoner. It also gave them a chance to have fun along alongside her. It was almost like a dream seeing Donnie and herself happily smiling in the that innocent carefree moment captured in time. A half-forgotten time that will never be again.

"So who's the guy in the picture with you?" Irma asked. "And why is he dressed up like a giant turtle? I mean I know this is New York and you get a number of characters here but…

"He's nobody." April said firmly. "He's more like someone I knew once…but things have changed between us." She sighed through her nose a moment. "And as for why he's a turtle…that is a long story I rather not talk about at this time. Look I need to get back to my homework's so I'll talk later, okay?."

"Sure," Irma answered. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

No matter how hard she tried she couldn't focus on her studies. Picking up her T-phone she flipped it on, she just wanted to get feelings out there. She wanted to rant at them, to chew them out to let them know how angry and humiliated she felt now that her face was plastered on the evening news. And worse yet, Donnie was in the picture with her so now hundreds of people across New York had seen them together. And even though majority of them thought it was just a costume there were others who would be able to tell that the boy in the photo with her was a mutant turtle, which in turn would make her a target by association.

A pop up message appeared on the screen stating: "You have 1 new voice message from Leonardo." The time stamp showed he had called during the time she had been with Casey. April knew that if Leonardo was calling her and left a message, then it had to be important.

"April, it's Leo." The leader in blue answered in a hurried tone as though he was racing across a roof top while he has talking. "The Pulverizer…the mutant Donnie has been keeping in his lab. He escaped thirty minutes ago and Donnie believes he's after you. If this message reaches you, get to somewhere that's safe as soon as you can."

Closing her eyes April shut off her phone again. She'd let the whole issue slide…for now.


End file.
